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City officials maintain that construction required by the project makes it impossible to save 83 ficus and other trees that line a three-block stretch of Greenleaf Avenue slated for redevelopment, which has led to public backlash and calls for reconsideration.

The Whittier City Council voted on Tuesday night to move forward with razing 83 ficus trees as part of a redesign of its commercial center despite backlash.

Other cities have battled in the courts over the preservation of ficus and other trees.

Ficus tree roots can lift and split concrete walkways, potentially impeding pedestrian movement.

In Rancho Palos Verdes, Trump has repeatedly squabbled with locals planting a row of ficus trees without authorization to block the sight of homes he thought were ugly, and battling the California Coastal Commission and the city for a decade over a 70-foot flag pole he erected without a permit.